Nursing bottle appliance



Jan. 12, 1965 R. A. JOHNSON 3,165,219

NURSING BOTTLE APPLIANCE Filed May 28, 1963 INVENTOR ROBERT A. JOHNSONBY WMW ATTORNEYQ United States Patent 3,165,219 NURSING BOTTLE APPLIANCERobert A. Johnson, 206 Juniper Ave., South San Francisco, Calif. FiledMay 28, 1963, Ser. No. 283,905 6 Claims. (Cl. 215-11) This inventionrelates to a nursing bottle appliance that entertains an infant byproviding a pleasing visual sensation as the infant drinks fluid fromthe bottle but does not interfere with filling or cleaning the bottle.

The present invention'contemplates generally a staff staff is formed sothat it is held in the viewing or extended position by its own weight.

.A feature and advantage of the present invention is that the staff canhe made of resilient material so as to cause the ornament to oscillateor jiggle when the nursing infant moves it about. infants attention tothe bottle and the ornament, promotes eye exercise which fosters earlydevelopment of the infants eyes.

Another feature and advantage is that the pivotal mounting of the staffpermits placement of the bottle on a table or similar flat surface forfilling without removal of the appliance from the bottle.

Still another feature and advantage is that the staff is so shaped thatwhen the bottle is in the invented nursing or feeding position thecenter of gravity of the staff is disposed relative to the pivotalmounting of the shaft to cause the staff to remain in its operative orextended position. I

A further feature and advantage resides in the fact that the appliancecan be readilyr'emoved from a nursing bottle while the bottle is cleanedand sterilized. Ready removal is afforded by the cup-like structure ofthe appliance which forms a concavity for receiving the bottom of anursing bottle.

Other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will bemore apparent after referring to the following specification andattached drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a cross sectional view of a nursing bottle equipped with anappliance of the present invention and in which the staff in extendedposition is shown in solid lines and the staff in a folded position isshown in broken mes;

FIG. 2 is a cross sectional view taken along line 2-2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an elevational view of the base of the appliance of myinvention taken along line 3-3 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a cross sectional elevation view taken along line 4-4 of FIG.2; and

FIG. 5 is a view similar to FIG. 3 showing a modification of myinvention.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, a conventional nursingbottle A is provided at its bottom end with a cup-like base member Bthat has a staff C pivotally mounted thereto. At the free or unmountedend of staff C is afiixed a brightly colored ornament D. With staff C inthe extended position, the position depicted by the solid lines of FIG.1, ornament D is visible to a baby from the top or nipple end of nursingbottle A.

Base member B is formed with a concavity or opening 12 shaped to receivethe bottom end of bottle A. The inner walls of opening 12 can be shapedto frictionally engage the side of bottle A. Alternately, if base B isconstructed of resilient material such as plastic, p 'ojec This actionin addition to holding the.

' tions 14 are formed on the inner wall of opening 12'to frictionallyengage bottle A when the bottle is inserted into opening 12. Base B isprovided with a fiat bottom formed by a flange 16 extending around theperiphery thereof so that the bottle inserted into opening 12 will besupported in a vertical position for filling.

Extending outwardly from base B are spaced apart projections 18 and 20that are suitably drilled to receive a shaft 22 therebetween. Belowshaft 22 and in axial alignment therewith, flange 16 is formed with anotch 24. Notch 24 is shaped to receive staff C therein when the staffis in an extended position.

Staff C is mounted to shaft 22 by meansof a suitable bearing member 26formed to pivotally fit onto the shaft.

position to a folded position. Staif C is formed with a straight portion28 adjacent bearing member 26 and then with a curved or arcuate portion30, so that when the staff is in an extended position, the arcuateportion extends into a cylindrical volume that would be formed by anaxial extension of the exterior surface of bottle A. Staff C is formedat the end remote from bearing member 26 with a straight portion 32shaped so that the unattached end of the staff is visible fromthe topend of bottle A. At the unattached end of staff C on straight portion 32is affixed a brilliantly colored ornament D. Ornament D can be formedwith a plurality of petal-shaped members 34 of cloth or plastic, or beof any other suitable form.

In operation, the bottom end of bottle A is insertedv on a table in avertical position forfilling because staff C can be readily pivotedabout shaft 22 to the position shown by broken lines of FIG. 1. Afterthe bottle has been filled and the cover nipple inserted thereon, it canbe given to a baby; when the bottle is held in an inverted nursing orfeeding position, staff C will pivot to the extended position shown insolid lines in FIG. 1. The staff will be held in that position by itsweight since, when the bottle is inverted, the center of gravity of thestaff acts on the side of shaft 22 to retain the staff in its extendedposition. With a staff shaped as that of FIG. 1, bottle A can beinverted to at least 60 relative to a horizontal plane and the staffwill still be held in its extended position by its weight. Otherconfigurations for staff C to assure the proper location of the shaftcenter of gravity relative to the pivot point at shaft 22 will beobvious to those skilled in the art.

Because staff C can be made of thin, resilient material, such as springsteel wire, ornament D will experience oscillation or jiggling when thebottle is moved slightly by the infant. The child is enticed to followthe ornament with its eyes due to the bright color and movement of theornament. This exercises and causes early devel opment of the eyemuscles and is thought to encourage the child to take more food.

Referring now to FIG. 5, a modification of my invention is shown inwhich flange 16 is provided with a notch 24- that is formed toreleasably lock the shaft in the notch. Notch 24' is formed with a widthsubstantially equal to the diameter of staff C at straight portion 28 sothat the walls of notch 24' frictionally engage staff C. Thismodification provides positive locking of staff C in the extendedposition but enables placement of bottle A on a flat surface because thelocking action of notch 24 is releasable.

While two embodiments of my invention have been shown and described, itwill be apparent that other adaping a' staff, means for mounting saidstaff at one end-there of to the bottle for pivotal movement between afolded position and an extended position, and an ornament aflixed to theother end of the staff, said staff being formed of resilient materialand defining a generally arouate shape.

so that the weight of the staff acts on a sideof the pivotally mountedstaff end to maintainthe staff in the extended position when the bottleis in a slanted inserted infant nursing position.

2. A device for an infants nursing bottle comprising a cup-like memberfor receiving the bottom of the bottle, a pair of spaced apartprojections on the exterior of said cup-like member, a staff pivotallymounted at one end thereof between said projections, and an ornament:attached to said staff at the unmounted end thereof, said staff defininga generally arcuate shape and being adapted to be held in an extendedposition by the weight thereof when the bottle. is in a nursing positionto support said ornament in. view of the nursing infant.

3. An appliance for an infant nursing bottle comprising a staff, meansfor attaching one end of said staff to the bottle for pivotal movementbetween an extended position and a folded position, and an ornamentaffixed to said staff remote from the attached end, said staff beingformed so that it is maintained in the extended position by its weightwhen the bottle is held in an inverted slanted position and the ornamentis visible to the user of the bottle, said staff being adapted formovement to the folded position to permit placement of the bottle in anupright position.

1 4. An appliance for an infant nursing bot-tie comprising a base havinga concavity for receiving the bottle in frictional engagement and asubstantially flat bottom adapted to support the base and bottle in anupstanding position, a pair of spaced apart projections on said base, a.shaft mounted between said projections in a plane substantially parallelwith the bottom of said base, a staff.

mounted by one end thereof for pivotal movement between a foldedposition. and an'extended position around said shaft, and an ornamentaffixed to the non-mounted end of said staff, said staff being formedofresilient material and defining a generally arcuate shape. having acenter of gravity relative tojsaid bottle tofcause said staff tomaintain the extended position and to resist pivotal movement toward thefolded position when said bottle is placed in the infant feedingposition. I

5. An'appliance for an infant nursing bottle comprising a base having aconcavity for receiving the bottle in frictional engagement, a flangesurrounding said'base adaptedto support the base and bottle in anupstanding position, a pair of spaced apart projectionson saidbase,

a shaft mounted. between said projections in. a planesubstantiallyparallel with the. bottom of said base, a notch defined by said flangein substantial axial alignment with said shaft,'a staff mounted :by oneend thereof for pivotal movement around said shaft betweenafoldedposition in which thestaff is pivoted to perniitplacemerit of'said baseflange on a flat surface and an extended position in which said shaft isdisposed in said notch,'an'd an ornament aflixed to the non-mounted'endof said'stalf, said staff being formed of'resilient material anddefining a generally arcuate shape having a center of gravity relativesaid bottle toicause said staff to maintain the extended position and toresist pivotal movement toward the folded position when said bottle isplaced in the infant feeding position. V i

6. The invention of claim 5 in combination with means to releasably locksaid shaft in said notch.

References Cited in thefile of this patent V

1. AN APPLIANCE FOR AN INFANT NURSING BOTTLE COMPRISING A STAFF, MEANSFOR MOUNTING SAID STAFF AT ONE END THEREOF TO THE BOTTLE FOR PIVOTALMOVEMENT BETWEEN A FOLDED POSITION AND AN EXTENDED POSITION, AND ANORNAMENT AFFIXED TO THE OTHER END OF THE STAFF, SAID STAFF BEING FORMEDOF RESILIENT MATERIAL AND DEFINING A GENERALLY ARCUATE SHAPE SO THAT THEWEIGHT OF THE STAFF ACTS ON A SIDE OF THE PIVOTALLY MOUNTED STAFF END TOMAINTAIN THE STAFF IN THE EXTENDED POSITION WHEN THE BOTTLE IS IN ASLANTED INSERTED INFANT NURSING POSITION.